Step 3: Assemble the Packets

Step 4: Pick Spices, Fill and Lable Packets

The spices I chose for my kit are these:Lemon Pepper (excellent for fish if happen to be hiking near a lake or river)Cajun Spice BlendGround CuminOni...

I like to cook, and I like to hike, so naturally I like to cook while I hike. In order to make some interesting and tasty meals on the trail, I put together a small spice kit. I decided to make my own kit mainly because I could not find anything i liked available commercially. That and it was super easy and cheep to do.

Just as a side note, some of my favorite trail recipes are available at: trailcooking.com

Step 1: Gather Materials

Here is a list of what you will need to make this kit:

1. 1 pack of m&m's minis Not only is this a great container for the kit, but you get a snack while you make it.

2. 8 large strawsI like straws from Jack in the box, they are very durable and slightly larger than typical. You can use smaller straws and get more variety in your kit, or you could use bubble tea straws if you want a lot of something.

3. Scotch tape

4. White colored tape for labeling. I used medical tape i had in my first-aid kit. If you have a label maker that would be great too.

Step 2: Mark & Cut the Straws

1. Unwrap and mark all of the straws as shown in the following picture2. Cut on the marks.

You should end up with the following:

1x 4.5" piece

1x 0.5" piece

1x 1.0" piece

the last piece can be discarded

Step 3: Assemble the Packets

To assemble the packets:

1. Fold back a 1/4" at the end of the longest piece2. Pinch this section and fully insert it in to the 1" piece of cut straw. (this will be the lid of the packet)

3. Repeat steps 1&2 on the other end, and use the 0.5" piece of cut straw.4. Tape the end with the short piece of straw in place. (this will be the bottom of the packet)

I finally got around to making one of these, only I had too many spices in my cupboard and had to use an empty Altoids tin. I used a different method to close it though. I held the end in my pliers, and then melted the protruding end with a lighter. I then made a little sleeve to keep the tin from opening up in my pocket or backpack.

That's a great idea too. I currently have an Altoids tin with some restaurant packets in it. This makes me want to add my own spices to it. I've been keeping my tin in a ziploc bag in my pack. Your sleeve idea is awesome too. Thanks for sharing!

Great Ible! Thanks! I've seen this done for a medicine cabinet kit too - sealing shorter straws like sour-cream packets. That could be modified for this application possibly too. (just keep it away from the spices! Hopefully the ointments wouldn't leak in the heat).

You don't have to heat up the pliers. just use a pair of needle nosed pliers and pinch all but about am 1/8" from end and use a lighter match to melt it. Make the original straw length long enough to snip off a little and reseal if needed after each use... lots of other applications to using straws for storage too

Wow! Thanks for the great idea! I can't wait to use it the nest time our Explorer Scouts go camping. Remeber to make sure you bring the straws home with you and don't leave them in the forest. Protect those little creatures of our environment. Very handy!

We did it!!! We all made our pocket spice kits today. The lighting the bottom worked like a charm. I would highly recommend it. It was fun to see what spices each kid chose and how each decorated their tube. And the kids have been toting them around showing them off which is nice. Thanks for such a great idea!

My kids and I are making these today. They are making theirs not for camping but for bland cafeteria food. I thought that was smart of them. So far their favorite part is eating the M+Ms, I'll get back to you on the rest.

ooh. i got it to work. thanks to myckro for the video in your instructable! i'll use melting to seal the bottom and the cap from this instructable for the top! great timing, im off to a 50 mile backpacking trip in a week! thanks everyone. hella help me a ton!

I'm going on a week long portage trip in a few weeks and this is just perfect for it! I love it. I haven't seen any of those m&m minis tubes around here in awhile. If I can't find one I'll put my straws in a ziplock bag and roll it up and put an elastic around it. I'll still end up with a tube like thing but won't be as durable.

I'm Canadian (southern Ontario), so I'm not sure what Fred Meyer is but I'll start my search tomorrow or the next day. Actually some brands have plastic tubes of gum now. Not the big cup sized ones but some similar in size to the m&m minis tube. They just have a weird lip at the top which might make getting the tubes in and out a little harder. Whatever happens, I'll definitely end up with better spice containers than I would have before. Thanks!

Old film canisters, while slightly bulkier, also make really good spice jars for traveling. When I bicycled the west coast that's what I used. Nice instructable. And any kind of instant sauce is a perfect way to soak up the remaining water in your pasta/rice/quinoa mixture and make a yummy cream/gravy/whatever you like sauce.

Many years ago I was able to visit the LLBean store in Maine and found a set of snap on shaker tops made to fit the film canisters. I worked on the road for two years and kept my two canisters filled with salt and pepper plus one filled with garlic powder. If I have those three items and some soy sauce I can eat anything LOL.

Awesome 'able!! Thanks for sharing. With everyone carrying lunches to save money I was thinking this would be the ideal thing to tuck into a lunchbox or keep in the desk at the office. I'm thinking stocking stuffers for office buddies.

This is sweet! I take my chef roll with all my necessary cooking tools, but haven't been able to take spice (except in ziplocks-those things still take up a lot of space.) Thank you. Now I am inspired to invent an ultralight pepper mill...

Due to the small size of the straws, the process of filling them would possibly drive me crazy... Is there a easier way? I used to find straws that are about 1.2 cm thick, but they are no longer available... sigh...

I have been saving plastic easter eggs from a store that had them on sale after the aforementioned date, and I was thinking that spices for a campout would be a nice use for them. You could fill an entire one with salt, and put smaller amounts of the more volatile spices like cayenne pepper in straws in another. I also have a number of those M&M mini tubes.

My husband and I are on a low-salt diet; I'm going to do this and fill it with Morton's salt substitute for us to carry in the car, and in my purse! And I get all the M & M's 'cause I can have sugar, and he can't!

I love this idea. It is genius! I'm looking at this step and wondering if maybe you could 'pinch' the folded over straw with a heated up pair of pliers to gently melt this end together, allowing you to skip the sleeve and tape. Probably not a necessity, but then you might get more containers out of one straw. Very cool.

You definately got my vote. This is so simpel, easy to make from stuff everybody has or can get his hands on very cheap, and its really practical. I don't know if the M&M minis in Germany come in those tubes, but i think a Hubba Bubba Glomb tube, or one of those Fizzie container tubes would also work awesome. Now i just gotta find clear straws, i only got black ones, hard to see the spice level in there...